Story Engineering [Paperback]

Larry Brooks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2011 | ISBN-10: 1582979987 | ISBN-13: 978-1582979984 | Edition: 1

What makes a good story or a screenplay great?

The vast majority of writers begin the storytelling process with only a partial understanding where to begin. Some labor their entire lives without ever learning that successful stories are as dependent upon good engineering as they are artistry. But the truth is, unless you are master of the form, function and criteria of successful storytelling, sitting down and pounding out a first draft without planning is an ineffective way to begin.

Story Engineering starts with the criteria and the architecture of storytelling, the engineering and design of a story - and uses it as the basis for narrative. The greatest potential of any story is found in the way six specific aspects of storytelling combine and empower each other on the page. When rendered artfully, they become a sum in excess of their parts.

You'll learn to wrap your head around the big pictures of storytelling at a professional level through a new approach that shows how to combine these six core competencies which include:

• Four elemental competencies of concept, character, theme, and story structure (plot)
• Two executional competencies of scene construction and writing voice

The true magic of storytelling happens when these six core competencies work together in perfect harmony. And the best part? Anyone can do it!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you've been searching for an accessible, well-reasoned explanation of how the story building process works, look no further. Here is the roadmap you need to understanding the craft of writing." --Terry Brooks, author of more than twenty five bestselling novels including The Sword of Shannara

"Story Engineering is a master class in novel writing. Reading it is like getting an MFA, without the pesky admissions process or student loans. This book will make you smarter about the craft. Period." --Chelsea Cain, New York Times Bestselling author of Heartsick, Sweetheart, and Evil at Heart

"Larry Brooks's Story Engineering is a brilliant instructional manual for fiction writers that covers what the author calls the `Six Competencies of Successful Storytelling.' The author presents a story telling model that keeps the writer focused on creating a dynamic living and breathing story form concept to the `beat sheet' plan, through story structure and writings scenes. It's a wonderful guide for the beginner and a great refresher for the pro. I guarantee this book will give you new ways to fire up your creativity." --Jim Frey, author of How to Write a Damn Good Novel

"A useful guide explaining how to transfer screenwriting techniques to the craft of novel-writing. Good for screenwriters, too, summarizing the essence of entertaining commercial storytelling with great clarity." --Christopher Vogler, author of The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers

"Larry Brooks' groundbreaking book offers both novelists and screenwriters a model for storytelling that is nothing short of brilliant in its simplicity, its depth, its originality and its universality. Following his unique process is guaranteed to elevate your writing to the highest professional level." --Michael Hauge, author of Writing Screenplays That Sell, and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds

About the Author

Larry Brooks is a critically acclaimed best-selling author of six psychological thrillers (including Darkness Bound, Pressure Points, Serpents Dance and others), in addition to his work as a freelance writer and writing instructor. He is the creator and editor of Storyfix.com, one of the leading instructional writing sites on the internet. His website is www.storyfix.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books; 1 edition (February 24, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582979987
• ISBN-13: 978-1582979984
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (135 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Education & Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Writing > Fiction

More About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Larry Brooks is the author of five critically-acclaimed thrillers, and the guy behind www.storyfix.com, one of the fastest-growing and most respected writing sites on the internet.

Brooks' resume reads like a Cheesecake Factory menu, an analogy that honors his favorite restaurant. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon in 1952, he graduated with a degree in marketing communications from Portland State University in 1975, where he attended in the off-season during an unremarkable five-year career as a professional baseball player (he pitched in the Texas Rangers organization).

This led to his first published writing: a magazine article on the life of a minor league pitcher. Still not keen on a writing career - he had his eye on the money back then, like most of the newly graduated- his first lives in a business suit had more than a few more swings and misses. He likes to say he was history's worst stockbroker for the world's largest brokerage firm, then the world's worst personnel manager in a major department store (remember what Dirty Harry said about Personnel managers?), in addition to a couple of other humbling career fliers he chooses to forget. Each abandoned career resulted in another published magazine piece lampooning the experience, and his interest in writing began to emerge as his best - and perhaps last - viable career option.

In 1983 he answered an ad for a "script writer" at a small audio-visual production company - eight arteests and a slide projector. Cut to 1996, when the company was one of the largest marketing and training firms in the western U.S., and Brooks was the executive creative director and a partner, with some 120 employees and a portfolio with more corporate videos, brochures, websites and other useless stuff than Harlequin has romances. He and his partners sold the business in 1999, at which point Brooks took the money and ran toward the career he'd been quietly cultivating on the side for the prior two decades - writing novels and screenplays.

His first published novel, DARKNESS BOUND, was based on one of his original screenplays, featuring - here's a surprise - a stockbroker who hates stockbrokering. It debuted in October 2000, spending three weeks on the USA Today best-seller list. His second novel, PRESSURE POINTS - an ad exec who hates the ad business - appeared to solid reviews in December 2001, with comparable sales. His third novel, SERPENT'S DANCE, was a February 2003 release from Signet paperbacks, and was also well reviewed despite selling like parkas in Pakistan. And his fourth, July 2004's BAIT AND SWITCH , earned a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, who also named it their lead Editor's Choice for that month, and at year end to two of their lists: Best Overlooked Books of 2004 (the only paperback so named; perhaps, says Larry, a dubious honor) and Best Books of 2004 (lead entry, mass market).

His book on writing - Story Engineering: Understanding the Six Core Competencies of Successful Writing - will be published by Writers Digest Books in February 2011. That book leverages the growing audience for his writing-skills website (www.storyfix.com), which explores a fresh and rhetoric-free perspective on writing fiction from a carefully articulated model and plan, rather than the seat-of-the-pants creative chaos so many writers employ.
Screenplays for all his books are in various stages of development.

In late 2002, Brooks' script for the adaptation of DARKNESS BOUND was named a finalist in the prestigious Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the folks who bring you the Oscars. It was one of ten scripts selected out of 6044 submissions, which he hopes you find impressive, especially since he didn't end up winning one of the five Fellowships. He got the t-shirt anyway.
Brooks has been developing and teaching writing workshops since the mid-1980s.

He has been named a Mentor by the Oregon Writer's Colony (www.oregonwriterscolony.org), and teaches at writing workshops around the country.

Brooks is very happily married to his wife of nearly 17 years, Laura, an artist and interior designer, who wants you to know she "is not the Dark Lady" (the villainess from his first novel), though central casting might disagree. He also has a wonderful son, Nelson, who is 21 and a senior at USC; three supportive step-children, Tracy, Scott and Kelly; and seven step-grandchildren who have no clue what "Poppy" does for a living. Nor, says Larry, do they give a rip, as long as he keeps tossing them around at family gatherings.
Larry and Laura divide their time between homes in Portland and Scottsdale. He is at work on a new novel, as well as his writing book and the continued growth of his website.

Feel free to contact Larry at his website (www.storyfix.com), or email him at [e-mail], or contact Sons of Liberty Publishing.